Lay and professional knowledge in social work: reflections from ethnographic research on child protection

Scourfield, Jonathan Bryn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6218-8158 and Pithouse, Andrew Joseph ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7971-0595 2006. Lay and professional knowledge in social work: reflections from ethnographic research on child protection. European Journal of Social Work 9 (3) , pp. 323-337. 10.1080/13691450600828382

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Abstract

This paper is concerned with the discursive interaction of lay and professional knowledge in the practice of social workers. The contention is that identifying discrete sources of knowledge—such as evidence-informed materials—may be less important for explaining how social workers guide their practice than recognising the effect of the discursive interaction of lay and professional knowledge within organisational culture. The example used for this discussion is child protection work, with a particular emphasis on how practice can be seen to be gendered. In the course of making this overall argument, the paper draws on academic debates about the nature of knowledge in professional work and discusses lay and professional knowledge as revealed through ethnographic research carried out in a social work team in the UK.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Social Work Knowledge, Lay Perspectives, Evidence-based Practice, Gender, Child Protection
Publisher:	Routledge
ISSN:	1369-1457
Last Modified:	25 Oct 2022 08:40
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/53891

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